Standing Up & Standing  Out on a boat in Lake Michigan this week.

This post is about living to stand up in order to stand out. And it’s metaphorical in content. This week has been incredible. Less active  voice work, but higher quality projects.  Auditioning, which is  real work-stuff of a voice actor’s time,  is a constant effort and if you don’t audition you’ll never have a chance at booking. I know this sounds elementary, but it’s so true and harder to do. Sometimes, I’ll admit, I’ll grow weary at times the auditioning process. But I’ll keep at it, faithfully. When I feel I’m not perfectly suited to something, I don’t take the time. But when I do or if it seems fun enough to “play”, that’s where I’ll shine. One booking came in this week from an agent where I was the voice of a swivel chair. Another one came from a different agent where I’m instructing managers of a large corporate group how to run their enterprise software. I absolutely love this business that’s so different every day, that stretches and challenges me to ever greater goals.   To stand up to my accountability to the previous blog post, I finished recording the narration of “War of Hearts”. I’m employing my able-bodied daughter and assistant to proof and send back any corrections before final mastering and upload to ACX.   But I’m not writing to talk only about voiceover work. It’s about experiencing and embracing all of  life, and about having plenty of activities to keep experiences fresh to bring in to the mix of my auditions and booked jobs.  For instance, Tuesday we went to a Brewers game at Miller Park and had a blast. It’s always great when the home team wins against a team like the San Francisco Giants!  Wednesday, we took a sunset boat cruise on Lake Michigan, where we were fortunate  to view a sailboat race,  have a nice trip around the harbor, and witness a spectacular sunset with the Milwaukee skyline as a back drop.     Tomorrow we’re playing golf in a scramble tournament to benefit a church mission work. It’s a chance to give back and have fun as well.  I’ve played golf twice in the past year, but it’ll be great  to use my clubs again. I remember hearing  a saying about basketball. It goes something like this: “You’ll miss 100% of the shots you don’t make”. And here’s another one about golf… “You’ll miss 100% of the putts you make if you don’t hit them hard enough.” Carry these expressions to this a metaphor for life and auditioning. Stand up,  and hit it hard enough to stand out and embrace all that is around you. Like my mentor Robert,  has told me, “Life’s a one-way ticket and a damn short ride”.   Have a nice weekend!